


The Prodigal Son

by MiriMuffinsWorld



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst, Family Feels, Found Family, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Let me know if something's missing, Pre-Fake AH Crew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:20:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24361969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiriMuffinsWorld/pseuds/MiriMuffinsWorld
Summary: Ryan returns to his mentors years after running away without an explanation. There are feels. So many feels.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	The Prodigal Son

„What do you want?“  
Geoff‘s voice was as cold as his eyes. It punched the young man right in the gut even though he knew that he deserved it. His hand found the rim of his mask and slipped it off his face. He couldn’t wear it in front of Geoff. Not right now.  
“To come back”, Ryan answered, his voice barely more than a whisper. To say that Geoff hadn’t been waiting for this moment would be a lie. Ever since Ryan had left, Geoff had wanted nothing more than this. But he had to ignore the warmth that spread at the young man’s words.  
“Why?”

  
Ryan looked defeated. His only hope was deflating right in front of him. He knew what he had done to deserve this. But he also knew what Geoff had said all those years ago. Had it been so wrong to have a little hope that despite everything he could come back?  
“I missed you guys.”  
Geoff couldn’t believe his ears.  
“Bullshit, Ryan. That’s bullshit and you fucking well know it. We’re just the last fucking place you could fucking run. So don’t fucking give me any of that fucking bullshit that you fucking missed us.”  
Ryan actually cowered at Geoff’s breakout. He knew that he had fucked up. He had betrayed Geoff’s trust and then run off and vanished. He knew that Geoff was right. He wouldn’t be here if he had any other choice. And he hated that even more than that he had run off to begin with.  
Geoff didn’t know how to react to Ryan just taking his accusations. The boy had always been too stubborn to just accept being in the wrong, had always argued when Geoff had started yelling. But now he was just standing there, taking what Geoff threw at him. It reminded Geoff a lot of how he had found Ryan when the young man had just been a scared, young boy.

Geoff had found him behind that dumpster, hiding from someone who had beaten the shit out of him. He had taken the boy home, fed him and cared for the bruises and cuts that covered his whole body. When it had become clear that the boy had nowhere to go, he and Jack had told him to stay. From then on, Ryan had been their apprentice. The boy had learned everything he knew from them and proven to be a very valuable asset on the jobs they pulled. Until a robbery had gone wrong. The cashier of the gas station they were holding up had pulled a gun and shot Geoff. When Jack and Geoff arrived at the meeting point, Ryan had been gone. It didn’t take long for Geoff and Jack to figure out that he blamed himself as it had been him who had done the stake out prior to the robbery. They had assumed that he just needed a little while to work through it before coming back.  
Two weeks later, the news had reported that a masked criminal known as the Vagabond had killed ten people in a bank. It hadn’t been difficult to figure out that Ryan was the Vagabond, they knew the boy better than he knew himself. A few days after the bank he had killed thirteen in a bar. Another couple of days later the Vagabond had murdered thirty people on a highway, not counting collateral. His kill count had rapidly climbed higher and Geoff and Jack had slowly lost hope of Ryan ever coming back.

Now, Ryan was standing there, not even looking at Geoff, the skull mask hanging from his fingertips, seemingly forgotten. Geoff wanted nothing more than to console the boy he had raised but he didn’t know if he could trust the man in front of him.  
“It’s been years, Ryan.” Geoff said a lot calmer. The young man just nodded. He was resigned. It had been a long shot anyway. He would just have to take his chances on the run, leave Los Santos, probably even the US. It just would have been nice to stay. But he understood. He started to turn around. If he had to leave then he’d rather get to it as fast as possible.  
“Wait, you fucking dipshit! You ran off without any explanation once. You don’t get to fucking do that again. It’s been years since we’ve fucking seen you. Being back isn’t as easy as it fucking sounds. We need to talk. Besides, Jack will want to see you. Just let me make a few calls.”

Ryan had silently followed Geoff to the penthouse. It was empty and Geoff congratulated himself on having thrown out the lads for this. They didn’t need to be involved just yet. He led Ryan into his office, pointing at one of the chairs in front of his desk. Ryan sat down, staring at his fingers that were still holding his mask.  
Before Geoff took his place behind the desk, he poured himself a whiskey. He was unsure if he should offer one to the young man as well. He hadn’t liked alcohol back when Geoff had known him but a lot could have changed since then. He sighed. How was he supposed to handle this?  
“I’m-“ Ryan started but Geoff interrupted him.  
“Let’s wait for Jack.”  
In truth, Geoff just wanted a moment to think about this mess. He couldn’t imagine telling Ryan to stay away. It was Ryan. No matter what had happened or how much had changed, he was family. Geoff recalled multiple times when he had reassured the boy of that. He couldn’t go back on that. But Ryan clearly had changed. He was the Vagabond now. He had stayed away all these years, had the blood of countless victims on his hands, had grown up alone. Geoff had always followed the news about the Vagabond and he wasn’t sure if he liked the man his boy had become.

  
The door flung open and an out of breath Jack stood in the door frame, looking like she had just run a marathon. Ryan’s head shot up for a moment, turning to see where the noise had come from. Then, just as quickly, he returned his gaze to his hands.  
“Ryan!”, Jack breathed out and Geoff noticed the young man shrinking even more into himself at the sound of his name from Jack’s lips. Jack went to lean on the desk facing Ryan. “You’re bleeding,” she stated. Geoff nearly missed Ryan shrugging and wondered how he hadn’t noticed it himself. Now, he saw that on Ryan’s left arm his jacket was ripped and blood was running down his arm with a small but steady flow. Jack went to get the medical kit. Geoff tried to stop her. It could wait. But she just glared at him as if to say ‘The boy is bleeding and no matter what you say or if he stays, I’m gonna make sure the wound is tended to’.

  
When she came back, she gently told Ryan to take the jacket off. He did but even with her examining his wound, he couldn’t look at either of them.  
“Where do we even begin?”, Geoff asked into the room.  
“At the beginning,” Jack said as she disinfected the cut, “you were family, Ryan, why did you run?”  
Ryan winced at her use of the past tense and was glad that it could also be attributed to the disinfectant.  
“I got Geoff shot,” he answered nearly whispering again, “you trusted me with surveillance and I didn’t notice that the guy had a gun. You got shot because of my bad intel. If I couldn’t even do surveillance, I was useless. You didn’t need me, so I spared us all the awkward talk and ran.”  
Geoff couldn’t believe that that had truly been the boy’s reasoning. He had thought that Ryan knew how much he meant to him outside the jobs. If he had known that Ryan had been feeling that way, he would have gone after him, made sure that the boy knew what he meant to him and Jack. “So why are you back now?”  
It took Ryan a moment to respond.  
“Because I need help.”  
“With what?”, Geoff asked, glad that Ryan was being honest.  
“Staying human.”

  
Silence fell over the three criminals. Two of them were trying to figure out what he meant. One was hoping that they would just know, that he wouldn’t have to explain what he was so afraid of. Of course he had no such luck.  
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Geoff finally broke the silence, hoping for a clear answer.

  
“The Vagabond is hunted. A hunted animal gets aggressive. I can’t keep - he has to be stopped. He came out when I lost you guys. I- I hoped that- maybe that you could help. I’ve been running too long. Sometimes I- sometimes I don’t know if I’m him or myself- he’s here - always here”  
One of Jack’s hands rested comfortingly on Ryan’s shoulder. She calmly interrupted his rambling. “When did he come out for the first time?”  
Ryan quickly shook his head as if to shoo away a fly. Then he took a moment to collect himself before again shaking his head, this time it looked nearly violent. Then, he spoke, “in the bank. It got dangerous. He took over. The next time in the bar. Some drunk tried to take my wallet. After Vagabond was done, he never took anything again. Then, on the highway, a motorcycle had cut me off. I don’t remember the rest. He does. Then-“

  
“That’s enough,” Geoff interrupted. This was not good news. There was no way that they could let Ryan go off on his own. He could get himself killed, not to mention how many he would take with him. They also couldn’t take him into the crew. They couldn’t risk the Vagabond taking over when the lads were close. It would be like playing death lottery. He noticed a tear on Ryan’s cheek. He was sure that even Ryan hadn’t noticed it since he surely would have swiped it away before anyone could see.  
“Ryan?” His head snapped up and his eyes were hard when he looked at Geoff. It was over in a second and Ryan redirected his eyes to his hands. Goosebumps formed on Geoff’s arms. He was pretty sure that he had just gotten a glance at the Vagabond. Another tear made it’s way down Ryan’s face and it wasn’t long until he was silently crying. Neither Geoff nor Jack had any idea what to do. So they just stood there, helplessly watching the young man they had once considered family cry.

  
After a while, they could make out a “‘m sorry” in between the sobs. Shortly after, it was all they could hear. He was repeating it over and over again and just now did Geoff realise that the boy hadn’t really changed at all. The young man sitting in his office was the same little boy that he had found behind a dumpster. Quickly, he pulled his boy into his arms. In that moment he knew that he would never let him go again. He had no idea what to do about the Vagabond issue but he’d be damned if he let his boy go through it all alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. This got pretty dark. Honestly when I started writing it, I did not expect that but then again that always happens. so that shouldn't be a surprise. 
> 
> I've had this in my notes for an eternity. Today I'm finally brave enough to post it. It's actually one of my favourite stories that I've written (most of them will never see the light of day), so I'm a little nervous about posting this. Please let me know what you think.


End file.
